Глава XVI

Defeat of Kendebei by the sons of Simon (1 Mac. 16:1–10). The death of Simon and the conclusion of the book (1 Mac. 16:11–24). 1 Mac 16:1 And John returned from Gazara and told Simon his father what Kendebeus had done. The news to Simon about the hostile actions of Kendevey is brought by his son John, who lived in the fortress of Gazar as the commander of all the Jewish troops (XIII: 53). 1Mac 16:2-3 Then Simon called his two eldest sons, Judas and John, and said to them, “I and my brothers and my father’s house have fought against the enemies of Israel from my youth until this day, and have successfully saved Israel with our hands many times.” But behold, I have grown old, and by the grace of God you are in mature years: take the place of me and my brother, go and fight for our people, and may heavenly help be with you. “By grace (τώ έλέει, i.e. by the grace of God) you are in mature years (ίκαοί έν τοις έτεσι) …”. more precisely, slav.: “enjoy este v leteh...”, i.e. they are strong enough at their age to replace the old man in the upcoming war. - “Take the place of me and my brother...” γίνεσθε αντ έμού καί τού άδελφού μου ..., more precisely, the glory: “Wake up instead of me and my brother...”, i.e. Jonathan, at the same time with whom (XI:59) he came to the defense of Judea, and who was closest to the memory of Simon, his successor, although Judas could have been mentioned here with equal right (which would give: τών αδελφών μου). 1 Mac 16:4 And he chose out of the country twenty thousand men of war and horsemen, and they went against Kendebeus, and lodged at Modin. The peculiarity of the new war was manifested in the use of cavalry (' ιππείς), hitherto not mentioned among the Jews, and which appeared, obviously, as the fruit of the transformation of the army by Simon, which is mentioned among his merits in XIV: 32. 1Mac 16:5-6 And when they rose in the morning, they went out into the plain, and behold, a great army came towards them, both foot and horse, and there was a stream between them. And he and his people moved against them, and seeing that the people were afraid to cross the stream, he crossed first and the soldiers saw this and crossed after him. “And he moved against them himself...” (αυτός), i.e. the main commander of the Jewish army - John (XIII:53). He was probably the elder of the two mentioned in v. 2, although he is placed there in second place (cf. v. 14, where the third brother, Mattathias, is mentioned, and also in first place, although he was undoubtedly younger than Judas, according to v. 2). 1Mac 16:7 And he divided the people, placing the horsemen among the footmen; The enemy's cavalry was very numerous. By the disposition of his troops, with the inequality of the cavalry, John reveals in himself a remarkably experienced and wise strategist: by placing his cavalry among the infantry, he, firstly, prevented the possibility that under the pressure of the overwhelming cavalry of the enemy, his cavalry would fall into disorder, which would undoubtedly be reflected in disorder, and perhaps even panic, on the rest of the army - the infantry. Secondly, the placement of cavalry among the infantry not only did not prevent him from fulfilling his role, but even facilitated it. Separated by the infantry attacking the enemy cavalry and, therefore, less vulnerable from the enemy, whose attention should have been focused on the nearest ranks of the attackers, the Jewish horsemen inflicted a double defeat on the enemy, shooting arrows over the heads of their own, and at the same time - remaining a threat to the enemy and protecting their own from the rear and front. The last Jewish war with the Romans provided many examples of such inexhaustible ingenuity of the Jewish mind for miracles of struggle, courage and self-sacrifice. 1 Mac 16:8 And they blew with the sacred trumpets; and Kendevey and his army fled, and many of their wounded fell, while the rest fled to the fortress. “They fled to the fortress...”, i.e. Kidron, as follows from the context of the speech (XV: 39 and 41). 1Mac 16:9 Then Judas the brother of John was wounded; but John pursued them until he came to Kidron, which he had built. “Until he came to Kidron...” έως έλθείν (slav. “until you came to Kidron ...”) - actually means: to the region of Kidron, - to the place where you need to enter Kidron; therefore, unlike the Russian and Slavic translation, it does not yet contain an indication of entering the Kidron itself, but only into its beginning surroundings (cf. XI: 73–74, etc.). 1 Mac 16:10 And they fled to the towers that were in the region of Ashdod, but he burned it with fire, and up to two thousand men of them perished; and he returned in peace to the land of Judea. Ten years before, Azoth had already been taken and burned by Jonathan (X: 84); Obviously, he managed to settle down again and is now again suffering his recent fate. 1Mac 16:11 Now Ptolemy the son of Abub was made captain of the army in the plain of Jericho, and had much silver and gold; Ptolemy, son of Avuv (Αβούβου). The Greek name - Πτολεμαίος - of a person of Jewish origin makes one suspect that he or his surname were inclined towards Hellenism. 1Mac 16:12-14 For he was the son-in-law of the high priest. And his heart became proud, and he wanted to take possession of the country, and made insidious plans against Simon and his sons in order to destroy them. Meanwhile, Simon, visiting the cities of the country and taking care of their needs, came to Jericho, himself and Mattathias and Judah his sons, in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year in the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat. "In 177..." e.g. Seleucus. "in the eleventh month" (Sabat, Zech I: 7) in February 135 BC. 1Mac 16:15 And with deceit the son of Abubov welcomed them into a small fortress called Dok, which he had built, and made a great feast for them and hid the people there. “Son of Avuvov...” - without his name it sounds like contempt for this person for his vile deed. - “To a small fortress called Dok.” The vile act of parricide and fratricide is not carried out in Jericho itself, but in a small fortress or castle next to it, where, with everyone completely dependent on the commandant, it could be carried out more reliably. The name Δώκ (in Joseph Φ . Δαγών) is preserved in the present Ain Duk - a large beautiful spring northwest of Jericho, on the northern slope of Mount Quarantania (Dschebel Kuruntul). Above this source, the remains of very ancient capital walls are still visible, perhaps surviving from this unfortunate trap of Simon. 1Mac 16:16-17 And when Simon and his sons were drunk, then Ptolemy and those who were with him arose, took their weapons and went in to Simon during the feast and killed him and his two sons and some of his servants. Thus he committed great treachery and repaid good with evil. 1 Mac.16:18-21 Ptolemy wrote about this and sent to the king to send him an army to help, and he would deliver up their country and cities to him. And he sent some to Gazara to kill John, and he sent letters to the captains of thousands, so that they would come to him, and he would give them silver and gold and gifts; and he sent others to take possession of Jerusalem and the church mount. But someone, running to John in Gazara, informed him that his father and brothers had been killed and that Ptolemy had sent to kill him too. Ptolemy failed to achieve the full implementation of his insidious plans, despite the success of the first step and the prudent adoption of all other preliminary measures. John, his main rival, successfully escaped the unfortunate fate of his father and brothers and, having taken the throne and high priesthood of his father, continued the glorious history of the Maccabean dynasty. With the story of the death of Simon Maccabee (143–135 BC) with his family at the hands of Ptolemy and the escape of a similar fate by John, the codex of the sacred Old Testament books in their chronological order ends, leaving the reader in complete ignorance of the almost 1 1/2 century period before the New Testament events. Fortunately, the famous historian Josephus comes to the rescue here, and then little by little other classics, who, more or less in detail, depending on the skill of use, will tell us what is so important and interesting to know outside the books of the Bible. 1Mac 16:22-24 When John heard about this, he was greatly troubled and, seizing the men who came to destroy him, killed them, for he knew that they were seeking to destroy him. And the rest of the deeds of John and his wars and his courageous deeds, gloriously accomplished, and the building of the walls that he erected, and his other deeds, behold, they are written in the book of the days of his high priesthood, from the time that he became high priest after his father. The history of John, known under the name Hyrkanus, is only, so to speak, entitled by the writer, and is immediately replaced by a simple reference to other special sources (“the book of the days of his high priesthood”). Unfortunately, this precious book not only has not survived to our time, but it is also difficult to say whether it was used by the main descriptor of the history of John in its present form - Josephus. Those interested in this highly instructive history and in general the question of what happened 1 1/2 centuries before Christ the Savior in Judea, it is best to satisfy their laudable curiosity by reading a special section on this (277-355 pp.) entitled: “From the Bible to the Gospel” in the recently published scientific work: “History of the Jewish People according to the Archeology of Josephus”, Hieromonk Josephus (St. Trinity Lavra of Sergius, 1903, c. 2 r. 50 k.). – The story of the famous Herod, the killer of the Bethlehem babies, which is replete with soul-grabbing events and pictures, requires special attention and interest of every enlightened and believing Christian (pp. 323–355 in the same work). The books of Maccabees are translated from Greek because they are not in the Hebrew text.